Current Affairs - December 6, 2017 Current Affairs

Sixteen-year-old Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria was awarded the International Children's Peace Prize for his efforts to ensure the rights of Syrian refugee children. Al Jounde, a refugee of the Syrian civil war, set up a school together with his family in a Lebanese refugee camp that currently provides 200 children with education. Al Jounde received the prize from Malala Yousafzai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her work for children's rights.

India has won the first-ever South Asian Regional Badminton Team Championship. In the title clash played at theTarun Ram Phookan Indoor Stadium in Guwahati, India defeated Nepal, 3-0.

Uttar Pradesh has become the first State to endorse the Central government's draft bill that makes instant triple talaq a cognisable and non-bailable offence. The draft law, which provides for three-year imprisonment and a fine to a man trying to divorce his wife by uttering "talaq" three times, got the State government's approval at a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on December 5, 2017.

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has unanimously passed a Bill awarding death to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 and below on December 4, 2017. With this, Madhya Pradesh has become the India's first State where those convicted of such rapes will face the gallows. The Capital punishment would be awarded to convicts under Section 376 (A), which is related to rape, and Section 376 (D, A), pertaining to gang rape. The Bill will now be sent to the President for his assent after which it will become a law.

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0 percent. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at 5.75 percent, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25 percent. The projection of real GVA growth for 2017-18 of the October resolution at 6.7per cent has been retained, with risks evenly balanced. In the previous meeting in October, the RBI had maintained status quo on rates.

The Surface to Air Missile AKASH with indigenous radio frequency seeker against target Banshee has been successfully launched from the Launch Complex-III at ITR Chandipur, Odisha. The Radars, telemetry and electro-optical systems along the coast have tracked and monitored all the health parameters of the missile. This missile is being inducted into Army as Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM). With this success, India has achieved the capability of making any type of Surface to Air Missile.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhu released the Mid-term Review of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 in New Delhi. The FTP will focus on exports from labour intensive and MSME sectors by way of increased incentives in order to increase employment opportunities. Export incentives under Merchandise Exports from India (MEIS) have been increased by 2 percent across the board for labour intensive MSME sectors leading to additional annual incentive of Rs. 4,567 crore. Further, incentives under Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) have also been increases by 2% leading to additional annual incentive of Rs. 1,140 crore.

Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping programme, but clean Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag. The sanction was the toughest ever levelled by the IOC for drug cheating and came just 65 days ahead of the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company has started digital branch services through its offering 'Mosambee'. Mosambee is a handheld device that offers the services just like a mobile branch. Through Mosambee, customers can avail host of services including obtaining premium payment certificates, checking claim status, procuring account statements, locating branches and even SMS services for updating PAN and Aadhaar details.

International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development was celebrated all over the world on Dec 5. The theme for International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development 2017 is: Volunteers Act First. Here. Everywhere. It is viewed as a unique chance for volunteers and organizations to celebrate their efforts, to share their values, and to promote their work among their communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), United Nations agencies, government authorities and the private sector.

Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district was included in the National Capital Region (NCR), taking the total number of districts in the NCR to 23. The decision to include Shamli in the NCR was taken at the 37th meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) held in New Delhi.

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh has launched the UNICEF-ICC's adolescent campaign "Power of Sports to Shape the Future of Adolescents" in Colombo, Sri Lanka to promote a UNICEF sports initiative for youngsters in South Asia.

The Rajasthan government will soon introduce 'Guru-Shishya' programme in all districts, under which college students can raise discuss with their teachers the issues and problems related to their institutes. According to state Higher Education Minister Kiran Maheshwari, the programme will be held in one nodal college in each district where students selected on merit and elected members of students union would participate. It will soon begin from Jaipur.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the key interest rate "repo rate" unchanged at 6% and reverse repo at 5.75% in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy review for the year 2017-18 on December 6, 2017, as it feared that inflation may top the central bank's medium-term target of 4%. It also maintained its neutral policy stance. Consequently, the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate remained at 6.25%. The central bank has raised inflation forecast to 4.3-4.7% in third and fourth quarters of current fiscal and kept the economic growth forecast "Gross Value Added (GVA)" unchanged at 6.7%.

The 3rd edition of the Dialogue between the NITI Aayog and the Development Research Council of China, the DRC- NITI Aayog Dialogue was held in Beijing. The meeting was co-chaired by Vice Chairman NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, and Mr Li Wei, President (Minister), DRC. The two sides agreed that the 4th NITI Aayog - DRC Dialogue will be convened in India in 2018. The dialogue took place under the MOU between NITI Aayog and the Development Research Centre (DRC), State Council of the China.